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12 August 2008

Resins, also called binders, are the film-forming portions of coatings. They are usually high molecular weight solid polymers (large molecules with repeating units) in the cured film. In some cases, lower molecular weight units in two liquid components react with each other upon mixing to polymerize into the higher molecular weight solid.The resin is responsible for many of the properties of the coating. Thus, coatings are usually identified generically by the types of their resins. Important film properties relatedto the resin chemistry are:a) Mechanism and time of curingb) Performance in different environmentsc) Performance on different substratesd) Compatibility with other coatingse) Flexibility and toughnessf) Weather resistanceg) Adhesionh) Ease of topcoating and repairi) Application properties (wetting, build, pot life, etc.)